System Requirements for home server?

Discussion in 'Bukkit Help' started by Slad, Mar 1, 2011.

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  1. Hello,

    I have set up a minecraft server running craftbukkit on my old desktop pc and tested it on the local network and everything was running fine while i was just playing around with some plugins at spawn :) ...then i went "exploring" the world and the server started lagging as hell with my cpu at 100%. (btw i was playing from another pc on the home network)

    Now my question is:
    What are the approximate system requirements to run a server which would be able to hold like, lets say 10 players (what about more?)? Just tell me about your experiences/knowledge about having the server on a home computer and what possibilities you actually have on one.

    Also,maybe my lag appeared because of the map generating? can that be?

    System Information:
    OS: Linux 2.6.35-25-generic #44-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jan 21 17:40:48 UTC 2011 GNU/Linux

    Craftbukkit version: git-Bukkit -0.0.0-458-g557f3d2-b440jnks (MC: 1.3)

    Java: java version "1.6.0_23"

    CPU:
    processor:0
    vendor_id: GenuineIntel
    cpu family: 15
    model: 4
    model name: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
    stepping: 1
    cpu MHz: 3010.751
    cache size: 1024 KB
    physical id: 0
    siblings: 2
    clock: 200 MHz

    Memory:
    MemTotal: 3095856 kB
    MemFree: 2484172 kB
    Buffers: 54616 kB
    Cached: 313792 kB
    SwapCached: 0 kB
    Active: 303076 kB
    Active(anon): 148860 kB
    Inactive(anon): 3884 kB
    Active(file): 154216 kB

    So...hope this is not too much specs here,thought ill give u guys as much info as possible so u can tell me where the system sucks or what i could upgrade or tweak to make it stronger. Also if something is missing,tell me,then i'll post it.

    PS.I am new to having a minecraft server, so please excuse my noob questions and behavior...

    Thank you in advance for your answers.
     
  2. Offline

    Plague

    I run it on a nearly exact same configuration, 2-3 people without problems. I think 10 would be possible too.
     
  3. Offline

    jwideman

    Your biggest issue running a minecraft server seems to be the RAM. If everyone is in the same chunk, you're fine. When everyone has their own chunk and the 80 chunks around them, then things can get bad very quickly. A rule of thumb is 100MB per player.
    The second biggest issue is bandwidth. A good rule of thumb seems to be about .150Mbps upload per player.
    CPU is... not really an issue at all, except during - as you noted - map generation. I swear the server could run on an abacus if you could figure out the I/O.
     
    tikistand5525 likes this.
  4. Thanks for your quick answers,guys [​IMG].
    @jwideman wait.So you are saying that theoretically with 3 GB of RAM the server could hold up to 30 players? (if my calculations were correct [​IMG] )
    again: only theoretically. if using your rule of thumb with 100MB / player and only looking at the RAM.(NOOB QUESTION,SRY!)

    Will have to check how much bandwidth upload i get...

    Um...also, u seem to know your stuff - so when looking at my specs, what do they tell you? [​IMG]
     
  5. Offline

    jwideman

    Your math is fine. :)
    Plague surely knows more about that machine than I. But IMO that machine is more than adequate for running a simple minecraft server. You only need a single core anyway, and you could give it a 1GB ramdisk and still host about 20 players. Fewer cores means less heat. The only thing I'd change would be the distribution, as Ubuntu is overkill.
     
  6. Oh, that is good news about the specifications! [​IMG]

    About the distro tho...what should i take instead of ubuntu? i took that because i dont know that much of linux either and ubuntu is like...somewhat user friendly...
    I heard many ppl use CentOS... is that a good choice? anything else you can recommend?
    Oh and another question about the OS: is it ok/recommended to run a 32bit OS for the server with my specs? Or can I also install a 64bit version (would that improve anything?)?

    Sorry for being a pain in the ass [​IMG]
     
  7. Offline

    Plague

    Well yes Ubuntu is user friendly but that friendliness is given by the GUI, and hosting minecraft server is not done in a GUI. You don't have to change it at all, especially if it is ready and working. Just maybe stop unnecessary daemons.
    CentOS is rpm-based I'd stick with Ubuntu or use Debian for a server.

    I wouldn't use 32bit because java can only use 1.5G then.

    As for the 3GB, it is theoretically fine for 30, but I wouldn't use it for that much, I have 3G for us 3 people and it's much better than with 1G before, but 30 is really a big number, the best way to know is just test it...
     
  8. Ye,I know that the GUI-friendliness uses a lot of resources of the system, but again: i just took that because i dont know a lot about linux and didnt wanna thro myself into some command/terminal-only OS.
    CentOS and Debian have their GUI too :p, so i'll think about trying one of those. and i will reinstall the OS anyways,cause u say its better to have a 64bit system but i have 32 now.

    Also about the 30 players on 3GB RAM. I was just talking about theory. im not even planning on having more than 5-10 players right now :). just wanted to know whether it would be possible to have so many players with only 3 GB RAM (theoretically), to get an overview about what u can get for what kind of setup.

    Thank you all for your answers again.
    I really appreciate it!

    **EDIT** Oh and sorry for bad English.
     
  9. Offline

    Plague

    I meant that if you host a server you usually do not have it at home or in the same room so you do not use a GUI anyway.
     
  10. I've just found a linux distro on the internet that was kinda made for running a minecraft server:
    MineOS (http://minecraft.codeemo.com/index.html)
    Does anyone have any experience with that? Is it good for running a server on it?
     
  11. Offline

    TnT

    Saw it, found it doesn't work with VMWare ESXi, promptly went to something else (built my own Ubuntu server).

    I find nothing compares to my own server tweaked just how I want it. Your results may vary.
     
  12. got it :)
    think i will use debian now.
     
  13. Offline

    TnT

    If you are already a familar Linux user, I see no reason to use a pre-built server such as MineOS.

    Shameless plug - in my sig is a link to a Ubuntu How-To - in case you want/need it.
     
  14. Im not a familiar linux user but i still managed to install a craftbukkit server on ubuntu. But well...in this thread i was told ubuntu might be overkill :) so i was looking for some other OS's that ppl recommended here. I want to install another OS anyways because i have 32bit now but want 64bit... but i cant decide lol. maybe debain,maybe ubuntu server? im so confused!!! its that large choice between linux distros problem :)

    i have read a little more on the web about that MineOS... so rly the advantages kinda are that it is easier to setup the server with it. But i managed somehow to get it working on ubuntu even tho i dont have a lot of knowledge about linux so i dont think i need that (and if i get stuck,i come to the forums!they always help me out!).

    Gonna check your how-to now.
     
  15. Offline

    TnT

    Its not overkill. Running a MC server on Windows Server 200x is overkill. Running it on damn near any flavor of Linux is a good idea. If you've gotten as far as getting it off Windows and onto Linux, you're good. Now just tweak that Linux install.

    People love the version of Linux they use, so you will always have someone saying what you are using isn't as good as what they are using. Ubuntu is widely used as a MC server OS, and you'll find more help on it than any other OS, with the exception of CentOS.
     
  16. Offline

    jwideman

    It's entirely made for running a minecraft server, and it rocks. :D
    It totally works with VMWare Player. Not sure why it wouldn't work with ESXi.

    Regarding Ubuntu server... I like Ubuntu for a desktop, but for a server it has way too much overhead. What's great about MineOS is that it's built from tinycorelinux, which itself is pretty much ideal for something like minecraft which benefits so much from a ramdisk installation.
    --- merged: Mar 2, 2011 10:57 PM ---
    Ubuntu is very popular as a desktop linux, while CentOS is very popular as a server linux. Neither is particularly suited (which is not to say they are a bad choice either) to running a minecraft server.
     
  17. Thanks for your support.
    I think i have decided :) ... tadaaa: will stay with ubuntu. but get the 64bit server version instead of 32bit desktop version

    Actually i didnt get it off windows. never had a mc server on windows. never had one at all lol.

    ##EDIT##
    Oh,another post was written while i was writing mine. Thanks, jwideman, for your support too. I will stay with ubuntu tho...simply have to decide NOW lol-otherwise ill never do because of this big distro choice :D
     
  18. Offline

    TnT

    It doesn't have the proper support for SCSI HD's. ESXi is a fair bit different from VMware workstation.
     
  19. Offline

    jwideman

    Ah, yes, the SCSI support in tinycorelinux is, well, borked.
     
  20. Offline

    Xiider

    What Upload need a server for uhm under 20 people?^^
    Is there a way to use a "puffer server", the server upload the map to it and this Server broadcast it to the player?
     
  21. Offline

    CoolGuyNoah

    I am going to run a server on a i7 2600 computer with 8GB of RAM and a 7200rpm 1TB hard drive. For games like world of Warcraft you need a good graphics card to host a server. Minecraft servers are run in terminal windows so would I need a good graphics card? I will be doing the on Server stuff on a different computer to prevent lag btw
     
  22. Offline

    TnT

    I deleted your double post.

    No, you don't need a good graphics card to run a Minecraft server.
     
  23. Offline

    ShadowHKraft

    How much RAM would u suggest for a 50 max player server? I know its not enough but right now I have 4GB of RAM and I have a server that will be running skyblock, creative plot worlds, normal world, the end, nether. Since I have so many worlds would it require me to get a separate hard drive to run the server on? I plan making a decently big server.
    I have heard that people with 100+ servers have multiple hard drives and usually have between 500GB-1TB of RAM if they can and I was wondering how that all works together to prevent lag and such as far as using the multiple drives. Please excuse my lack of knowledge but these are some questions that have been on my mind since I started making the server. :D
     
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